Quite possibly the finest journalism in the world... evah!

Doktor Gott · 18 Nov 2009, 09:09

18 Nov 2009, 10:36

What?

Now there's proof of Poe's Law if ever I saw it.

(Poes Law: Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humour, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing.)

Doktor Gott · 18 Nov 2009, 10:46

markfiend wrote:What?

Now there's proof of Poe's Law if ever I saw it.

(Poes Law: Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humour, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing.)

I thought it was false too.. but...

A check of the Wayback machine shows the website active in 2006, so that's a very long time to be running a hoax..

And Wiki says this:

The Red Pepper is a daily tabloid newspaper in Uganda which was launched on June 19 in 2001. Deliberately mirroring the style of tabloids in other countries, the paper is known for its mix of sensationalism, scandal and frequent nudity[1]. The paper has roused the ire of the Ugandan government for revealing that former foreign minister James Wapakhabulo died of AIDS, and publishing conspiracy theories relating to the death of Sudanese vice-president John Garang in a helicopter crash.

In August 2006, Red Pepper published the first names and occupations of prominent Ugandan men who it asserted were homosexual. This decision was sharply criticized by the campaigning group Human Rights Watch, which said that the move could expose the men to harassment by the government, as homosexuality in Uganda remains illegal[2]. The following month it published a similar list of 13 women who it claimed were lesbians[3].

I really believe this to be real.. am currently involved in a wager at work to track down a hard copy to prove it..

18 Nov 2009, 11:14

Oh wow!

I did spend a while surfing round the site looking for the "this is a parody" disclaimer, but couldn't find it. I think you might be right, it's real!

Crazy.